site.btaBulgarian, Romanian Air Forces Carry Out Airspace Protection Exercise

The Blue Bridge 2023 flight exercise, which took place on September 26, confirmed the successful joint actions of the Bulgarian MiG-29 and Romanian F-16 aircrews in receiving and handing over of intruder aircraft in the airspace of Bulgaria and Romania, the Defence Ministry's press centre said on Tuesday.

The Bulgarian and Romanian combat aircraft of the two countries were deployed against a Bulgarian military transport aircraft Spartan J-27 in the role of an intruder and carried out its interception, escort and control handover at the border of the two countries in compliance with all procedures for the conducted airspace protection mission.

Following the commands of the Bulgarian and Romanian pilots, the "intruder" was ordered to land at airports in both countries.

Blue Bridge training flights have been held annually since 2012. They contribute to the maintenance of good coordination and interaction between the Bulgarian and Romanian crews when conducting cross-border air traffic control and airspace security operations.